Time-lock attachment



(No Model.)

1". H. PECK.

TIME LOCK ATTACHMENT.

N0.472,2Z4. PatentedApr.5,'l892.

I 4 1 1' Z I v I Witnesses Inventor 2% Sm,

//-7J' Attorney I UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FRANKLIN H. PECK, OF DES MCINES, IOWA, ASSIGNOR TO THE MOSLER BANK SAFECOMPANY, OF CINCINNATI, OHIO.

TIME-LOCK ATTACHMENT.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 472,224, dated April 5,1892.

Application filed December 14, 1891. Serial No. 414,921. (No model.)

.To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, FRANKLIN H. PEOK, of Des Moines, Polk county, Iowa,have in vented certain new and useful Improvements in Time-LockAttachments, of which the following is a specification. p

This invention pertains to improved con-- nections between time-locksand the safe-locking devices which they control; and it has thus farbeen developed with special reference to that class of safes in which acircular door is closed by being screwed into place and locked bymechanism within the safe, preventing the unscrewing of the door beforethe time-lock shall have released the locking device.

The objects of the invention are to secure an instantaneous locking whenthe door shall have been screwed home or when the timelock shall go onguard, and to secure an instantaneous unlocking when the time-lock goesoff guard, and to provide a dead-look while the time-lock is on guard.

For an example of the class of screw-door safes above referred to, seeKings patent, No. 457,122, of August 4, 1891. Safes of this class arealways guarded bytime-locks.

Any ordinary suitable time-lock may be employed in connection with myimprove ments; but in setting forth an exemplification of my invention Ihave chosen to assume the employment of a time-lock substantially suchas is shown in Kings patent, No. 450,293, of April 14, 1891, whichpatent may be referred to, if necessary, in order to understand that thetime-lock goes on guard by allowing its bolt to spring up and do thedesired locking work, the time-lock going oif guard by pulling its boltdown at the proper time. This time-lock goes on guard suddenly by therelease of a spring, while it goes off guard slowly by straining thespring back.

My invention will be readily understood from the following description,taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1is a front elevation of an ordinary screw-door safe with the door openand swung into a plane at right angles to the front of the safe, so asto show the edge of the door; Fig. 2, a vertical section of the safewith the door closed and locked and showing the door and the front wallof the safe in rear elevation; Fig. 3, an enlarged repetition ofportions of Fig. 2 with some parts shown in section and with the coverof the time-lock removed; and Fig. 4, an enlarged repetition of portionsof Fig. 2 with some parts shown in section, but showing the door insteadof in the locked position as just being started into place-in otherwords,just as the screwing-in begins.

In the drawings, A indicates the body of the safe; B, the front wall ofthe safe; C, the usual circular door-seat, into which the door tightlyfits and into which the door is to be drawn by means of a screw; D, theusual threads in the door-j amb to the rear of the door-seat and formingthe nut with which the screw on the door engages when the door isclosed; E, the initial end of this thread at the lower portion of thedoor-jamb; F, the usual pawl-notch out out of the rearmost threads D ofthe door-- jamb at the top of the door-jamb, the object v of this notchbeing to furnish an engaging point for the pawl on the door-screw toprevent improper unscrewing of the door; G, the door, adapted to fitair-tight into the doorseat; H, the usual crane-hinge supporting thedoor and allowing the door to be opened and closed and also to berotated upon its axis; J, the usual threads upon the rear of the door,adapted to engage the threads D of the doorjamb, the screw formed bythese threads having in the example the usual form of a ring secured toor formed with the door; K, the usual pawl, pivoted in a mortise in thedoorscrew betweentwo of the threads thereof and adapted to swingoutwardly, so as to engage the pawl-notch F in the door-jamb and preventthe unscrewing of the door, or to swing inwardly so as not to engage thenotch; L, the usual time-lock secured to the rear of the door, theinterior time mechanism not being shown in the drawings, as my inventionrequires nothing different from that in ordinary use; N, aspring-plunger working radially in the screw J a slight distancecircumferentially to the rear of the pawl, this plunger projecting, likethe pawl, outwardly between two of the threads of the door-screw, butadapted to move inwardly, so as to have no projection between thethreads; N, the bolt of the time-lock, projecting from the time-lockupwardlyinto con- Too tact with the under side of the pawl, so that ifthe bolt goes up the pawl must move outwardly in position to engage thenotch, it being impossible for the pawl to drop back until the bolt ofthe time-lock retreats and permits it to do so; 0, the usualtrigger-hook of the time-lock, adapted to engage over a shoulder on thebolt end when the bolt is retracted by the time mechanism, the boltbeing thus held down until the time mechanism shall again disengage thetrigger-hook; P, the shoulder just referred to as being engaged by thetrigger-hook when the bolt is retracted; Q, the usual shoulder on thetim e-lock bolt, engaged by the timemechanism inretra-ctin g the boltNR, a. light spring holding the bolt N, up and thus pressing the pawl Kinto outward position; S, a depending finger on the outer end of thepawl; T, a lever loosely pivoted to the door under the pawl, the upperend of this lever coming under the pawl-finger S, the le ver beingadapted to swing to one side, so that its upper end will no longer beunder the pawl-finger; U, a light spring tending to hold the lever T inposition, with its upper end under the pawl-finger; V, an arm mountedloosely on the pivot of the lever T and connected with the bolt N of thetime-lock, so that as the bolt N moves down the arm will be tippeddownwardly; W, a projection on this arm engaging behind a pin projectingfrom the lever T, so that as bolt N descends and tips arm V downwardlythe lever T will be swung to the left and have its upper end removedfrom under the pawl-finger; X, a trigger-pin projecting from lever T; Y,a trigger-lever pivoted at its center and having its outer end connectedwith the spring-plunger M and having at its inner end a trigger-notchadapted to engage behind trigger-pin X, and Z the corner of the upperend of the lever T.

Confining attention now exclusively to Figs. 2 and 3, the operation willbe described. The door is found to be screwed fully home and the pawlseated outwardly in the j amb-notch. The time-lock bolt N is in itsupward position, being held there by the spring E. To unscrew the doorrequires that it be turned in the direction of arrow at. The door cannotbe so turned because the pawl engaging the jamb-notch will not permit.The pawl cannot drop down out of the notch because spring R holds it up.Again, if spring R and bolt N were absent, even then the pawl could notfall because it would be intercepted by the lever T. Thus it will beseen that the door is locked not by the action of the timelock, but bythe action of spring R. The door can never be unscrewed until spring Ris pulled down and lever T gotten away from under the pawl-finger. \Vhenthis is done, the pawl will fall to idle position and the door may beunscrewed. In the present arrangement the pawl if unsupported by thespring would be supported by lever T and could not drop. As thetime-lock pulls bolt N down the pawl does not follow, being supported bylever T,

j removal of that temporary support.

and it is only when the movement of the time-lock has tipped lever T farenough to the left to allow the pawl-finger to drop off of corner Z thatthe pawl may drop, and when it does drop it drops instantly. Thus itwill be seen that there is a positive support under the pawl while thesafe is locked and that notwithstanding the time-lock goes 0E guardslowly the real unlocking takes place instantaneously. lVhen thetime-lock has pulled bolt N down the full distance, then the unlockingduty of the time-lock is fully performed, for trigger hook O catchesover shoulder P and holds the bolt down until, when the proper timecomes around, the time lock will release trigger-hook O and allow thebolt to rise' again. This is all that need be said regarding theunlocking operation, which may be described briefly as the deliberatepulling down of the spring, the leaving of a temporary support under thepawl in the absence of the spring, and the eventual sudden So long asthe door engages the jamb-threads the plunger M will be held inwardlyand lever Y will be without effect; but bolt N having been pushed downby the time-lock, thus pulling down the spring and swinging aside thelever P, the pawl falls and I am at liberty to unscrew the door in thedirection of arrow d. I continue the unscrewing motion, and finally thehead of plunger M, which has been .held inwardly by the jamb-thread,reaches the beginning E of that thread. \Vhen this happens, the plungersprings out and the trigger-notch in the end of lever Y now engagesbehind pin X, thus holding lever T in its unobstructing position, towhich it has been pulled by the action of the time-lock. I now have thedoor open and spring R pulled down and the pawl entirely free. Assumethat at four oclock in the afternoon the door stands open and thetime-lock goes on guardthat is, it unhooks trigger-hook 0. Spring R willthen lift the bolt and force the pawl outwardly; but lever T will notswing under the pawl-finger, being restrained by trigger Y. At fiveoclock I proceed to close the safe. I turn the door until the pawl is below, as seen in Fig. at, except that the pawl would be somewhat fartherto the left and pressed outwardly by the spring. I now start to screwthe door in the direction of arrow I). If the pawl was unyielding, itcould not mount the thread end E. Spring R will yield and permit thepawl to ride up on the thread end E. But if lever T had taken its normalposition as an obstruction to the pawlfinger when the time-lock went onguard, then this rigid finger would prevent the yielding of the pawl;but when the door was finally unscrewed the trigger-lever Y caught pin Xc and held lever T in unobstructing position.

Therefore when the time-lock went on guard the spring R forced the pawlout, but lever T did not go into obstructing position. In closing thesafe with the time-lock on guard IIO I can therefore turn the door inthe direction of the arrow 17, the pawl riding freely upon thejamb-thread. Soon after reaching the position shown in Fig. 4 the headof the plunger M will reach the thread endE and ride upon the thread.This will untrigger the lever T, and spring U will tend to throw thatlever into obstructing position, but is prevented from doing so by theside engagement of the lever with the pawl-finger. I continue thescrewing until the door is home and the pawl reaches the notch F, as inFigs. 2 and 3, whereupon the spring forces the pawl out into the notchand lever T goes to its obstructing position and the safe is locked andwill remain so till the time-lock again pulls down the spring and pullsaside the lever T. It will thus be seen that the locking wasinstantaneous and took place the instant the door was screwed home.

I have just assumed the closing of the safe some time after thetime-lock Went on guard. Assume now that I close the door at threeoclockan hour before the timelock goes on guard. Spring R is pulled backand held so by trigger. O, and lever T is pulled aside and held so bytrigger Y. I screw the door home as before, the pawl in this case,however, riding over thread end E without being resisted by spring R.W'hen plunger M reaches thread end E, it untriggers the lever T, whichmakes side engagement with the pawl-finger, as before. I screw the doorhome, as in Figs. 2 and 3; but the pawl does not move up into the notch,spring It being held down by the time-lock or trigger O. The safe isclosed, but not locked, and the door may be unscrewed at any time beforefour oclock; but at four oclock the time-lock releases bolt N, andspring R forces the pawl into the notch and lever T goes into itsobstructing position, and the safe is locked. Thus the unlocking takesplace instantly. The locking takes placeinstantly whether the locking bedone before or after the time-lock goes on guard, and while thetime-lock is deliberately going off guard the pawl has a deadlocking-support, and while the time-lock is on guard the lever T isalways presentto furnish a rigid support for the pawl.

I claim as my invention-- 1. In a time-lock attachment, the combination,substantially as set forth, with a safedoor, a latch therefor arrangedto fall to unlatched position by gravity, a spring to force the latch tolatched position, and a time-lock arranged to retract the spring andagain to permit it to act at proper times, respectively, of a movablesupport arranged to normally engage below said latch and support it inlatched position, a connection between said 'movable support andtime-lock to cause the support to be moved to inactive position when thetime-lock retracts said spring, a trigger to engage said movable supportand prevent it returning to active position when said spring ispermitted to act, and a plunger engaging said trigger and projectingfrom the door in position to be actuated by the doorjamb to release thetrigger in the act of closing the door.

2. In a time-lock attachment, the combination, substantially as setforth, with a safedoor, a latch therefor arranged to fall to unlatchedposition by gravity, a spring to force the latch to latched position,and a time-lock arranged to retract the spring and again to permit it toact at proper times, respectively, of a rigid movable support disposedbelow said latch, and connections between said movable support and timelock, whereby when said spring is retracted the movable support is movedto inactive position.

3. In a time-lock attachment, the combination, substantially as setforth, of a safe having a circular door-seat and a jamb-thread and anotch in the jamb-thread, a door fitting said door-seat and havingathread to fit said jamb-thread, a pawl pivoted in said door and adaptedto engage said notch when the door is screwed home, a spring to forcesaid pawl into the notch, a time-lock arranged to retract said springand to permit it to act at proper times, respectively, a movable rigidsupport under said pawl, and connections between said movable supportand time-lock to cause the support to move toinact-ive position when thespring shall have been retracted.

4. In a time-lock attachment, the combination, substantially as setforth, of a safe having a circular door-seat and a threaded jambprovided with anotch, a door fitting said seat and having a thread toengage said threaded jamb, a pawl pivoted to the door and adapted toengage said notch when the door is home, a spring to force the pawl intothe notch, a time-lock arranged to retract the spring and to permit itto act at proper times, respectively, a movable rigid support under thepawl, connections between said support and time-lock to move the supportinto in active position when said spring is retracted, a trigger to holdthe support in inactive position, and a plunger connected with saidtrigger and arranged to engage the initial end of said jambthread as thedoor is screwed to place and thereby release said trigger.

FRANKLIN I-l. PEOK.

\Vitnesses:

J. T. KEENA, F. A. SCHULTZ.

